CCA Fears “Hundreds of Millions” in RDOF Funds to be Misspent

 The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) says in a new study shared with the FCC that errors in broadband data will soon send hundreds of millions of dollars of federal broadband subsidies to areas of the country least in need of support. Because of that, CCA asked the Commission to reconsider awarding Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I grants to wealthy, densely populated areas with broadband access, and instead direct support to genuinely unserved communities. 

Last year, the FCC’s RDOF used a reverse auction to try to direct billions of dollars of federal subsidies to areas without access to at least 25/3 Mbps in broadband services. The premise of RDOF Phase I was to target areas that the Commission “knew with certainty” were “currently unserved.” The agency used the broadband location maps it had at the time. It has since begun updating the data collection for the maps, Inside Towers reported. Continue Reading